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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24561355">Journey</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/bearinapotatosack/pseuds/bearinapotatosack'>bearinapotatosack</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Pride Prompts 2020 [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Crushes, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fred Weasley Lives, M/M, Pen Pals, Self-Discovery, Teen Crush, Unrequited Crush</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 08:55:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>816</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24561355</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/bearinapotatosack/pseuds/bearinapotatosack</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>George's hands were shaking as he sat. He had found some hidden relics from his early teen years, relics that recorded his self discovery. His old pen pal.</p><p>~~</p><p>George had a pen pal.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Angelina Johnson/George Weasley, George Weasley/Original Male Character(s) (Unrequinted)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Pride Prompts 2020 [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1769791</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>22</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Journey</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was the holiday season and, despite having moved about years ago, Molly had insisted that every Weasley child clean out their old rooms. This was how George found himself sitting on his bed with hundreds of pieces of parchment in his hand.</p><p><br/>
Fred had done some of the clearing earlier but had to rest his back after a while- surviving an explosion did have some serious after effects. The room itself was tidier than it had probably ever been, with hardly any failed experiments everywhere or odd pieces of parchment covering the floor. </p><p><br/>
George's hands were shaking as he sat. He had found some hidden relics from his early teen years, relics that recorded his self discovery. His old pen pal.</p><p><br/>
Said pen pal was called Leon Villar, a Spanish wizard who he'd been close with until his fourth year, when the events with the Chamber of Secrets making him too secretly stressed to write. </p><p><br/>
But this hadn't been the only reason why he'd stopped writing, because it was Leon who made him realise he was queer. He liked the term queer, mainly due to how free he felt when he used it and how he didn't need to explain. He liked not having a specific label for who he was and that was that.</p><p><br/>
At first, the two had been friends, becoming pen pals through their government's newspapers. They were lucky that Leon's father was British, because talking to someone who didn't know the other's language would have been impossible.</p><p><br/>
They both liked mischief and exploration, something that drove both of their families insane. Fred knew about his pen pal, not too in depth but he knew of him and had seen Leon's picture when they'd exchanged them. </p><p><br/>
The pictures were what drove them apart. </p><p><br/>
George had been suspicious of his sexuality for a while, he had tried to rationalise why he'd admired Quidditch players so much. He'd put it down to loving the sport so much, it was only natural that he longed to read about certain players or stare at their pictures for long periods of time. </p><p><br/>
However, when he'd seen Leon for the first time, his worst fears had come true. He wasn't jealous of how wavy his hair was, or the tanned skin that didn't burn or his minutely crooked teeth. That was far from the problem.</p><p><br/>
George was attracted to him.</p><p><br/>
He'd done all he could to bury it, he'd flirted with girls at Hogwarts that he didn't really care for. Not like that. At some points he even tried to date them, but to no avail, he didn't care for them.</p><p><br/>
The feelings grew in the neglect he'd left them in. Yet, they were only ignored further when the Chamber had been opened and his world shifted. </p><p><br/>
Leon was being abandoned too, something that he raised in one of their last letters. Their conversations had been getting shorter as George struggled with his feelings and his own sister being taken into the Chamber itself. </p><p><br/>
Finally though, he'd told him about his feelings. They were badly received, with Leon telling him that he didn't hate him, but he didn't reciprocate. This led to them falling apart, George turning more to laughter and pranks to pretend it had never happened.</p><p><br/>
From then on, he never dwelled on feelings too much, often evading any questions of relationships by any and all family members who asked him. His mum had been particularly hard at times, especially when they came home from school for holidays. </p><p><br/>
He was glad when him and Fred left home. They finally got a chance to explore who they were, in most senses of the word. People were intrigued by their success and intellect, so naturally it was easy to test out if Leon had been a one off. He hadn't been.</p><p><br/>
The war happened and all long lost memories of a simpler time when pen pals and buried feelings were all that concerned him. He'd lost an ear, comforted his family when they cried or got angry, fought in the Battle and stayed by Fred's bedside while he recovered.</p><p><br/>
Recovery had helped him accept who he was substantially. He let himself talk about who he was and move forward from the pain, truly thinking for himself for the first time. Angelina helped too, her patience and humour getting him through the dark times that had led him to this point.</p><p><br/>
"George! Dinner's ready!" Molly called from somewhere downstairs. The sudden break in his daydream made him drop the stack of letters in his hand.</p><p><br/>
Quickly, bending over to store the letters away, not under the floorboards like he used to but in a drawer. He guessed it could be representative of his journey, he wasn't hiding anymore, Leon was a major part of his self-discovery that George was proud of. He was queer and wasn't ashamed, not anymore. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I love queer George, I personally hc that he has a preference for girls. Hope you enjoyed this and your feedback is greatly appreciated!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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